Pikslo deep diving / underwater interception of the nordic sea

Pikslo_deep_diving / underwater interception of the nordic sea

Context & concept of the open lab / workshop / art - science research:

Keywords:

sonification, sound pollution, underwater sound, underwater sound pollution, anthropogenic

influence on the sea life, hydrophone, sonar, field recording, electromagnetic polution

(internet cables in water), acoustic ecology, seafaring, animals, fish, jellyfish, nordic sea, DIY

biologie, DIY chemistry, anthropocene

Collaborators ­ team:

Robertina Šebjanič (SI), Kat Austen (UK/DE), Slavko Glamočanin (SI), Gjino Šutić

(CRO), Piksel team (main organiser)

Workshop / project:

During the 5 day work intense inter ­ disciplinary research of four main mentors and

collaborators did open the process of the exploration of the context of DIY biologie, DIY

chemistry and sound. An DIY laboratory in the context of the Piksel festival was the main eirviroment for the workshop. We did spend time out on the field trips to

the fjords and surroundings in Bergen, to collect needed data.

To main reserch had been:

- underwater sound polution

- microplastic polution

Concept & context

When we look up to sky and look into the space and wonder about what is up there, we

sometime forget, that there is a lot still also to explore on the planet we live.

We know more about the space than we know about the world’s seas and oceans,

especially about the sound perception underwater.

People are not so aware of the vibrant underwater acoustic of sounds of the deepness of

ocean, except for the crash of a wave against a land. Whales, shrimp, seals, dolphins, and a

variety of other creatures of the deep live in a watery acoustical ­ sonic environment. The

arrival of steamships and other human­made interventions into the ocean soundscape has

contributed disturbing noise to this rich soundscape.

The workshop / project encourage an inter­relationship between sound, nature, and

society, as a starting point for the rethinking of the possible developed of nicer sonic

environments for the animals living in the world's oceans and sea’s.

The underwater sound pollution is the reality of recent development and industrialization

reflecting on the sea.

Especially the upper level of the seas ­ where there is most of the living in the seas and

independent by the level of the sonic pollution in the sea. We would also try to research the

deep sea level to understand what is happening there.

World seas and oceans are presenting more than 70% of surface of Earth.

97% of it is saltwater, 2% is fresh water in the form of ice and only the remaining 1% is

drinking water, which is distributed around the planet very unevenly.

The exploration of any ecosystem requires detailed study and observation. The ocean is the

complex, challenging, and harsh environment on Earth and accessing it requires specially

designed tools and technology. It has only been within the last 50 years that technology has

advanced to the point that we can examine the ocean in a systematic, scientific, and non

Pikslo_deep_diving // Context & concept of the workshop / research:

by Robertina Šebjanič (SI), Kat Austen (UK/D), Slavko Glamočanin(SI), Gjino Šutić (CRO)

invasive way. Our ability to observe the ocean environment and its resident creatures has

finally caught up with our imaginations and helping us to understand it also in the ways that

we did not imagine them before.

“Already back at the renaissance 1490 Leonardo da Vinci observed how the sound of ships

travelled long distances underwater. The sound of ships in the 15th century included the

noise of rudders and rigging, oars and the handling of cargo. Seafaring, while not in its

infancy, was a “life driven” technology; the power of wind and human muscle generated the

only anthropogenic noises in the sea. Over the next 400 years, acoustic technology at sea

involved innovations such as underwater bells and whistling buoys on submerged rocks and

reefs to warn navigators and captains away from marine hazards. With the advent of steam

powered engines, the quality and level of noise began to shift dramatically. With the ability to

navigate to, and develop the far reaches of the globe, the use of dynamite and diesel driven

pile drivers began transforming the soundscape of coastal waters worldwide. Once the

mechanization of seafaring and coastal civil engineering took hold, ocean noise began

increasing exponentially” * (from the Soundscape The Journal of Acoustic Ecology​) and

it started to overtake also the sound scape environment of the animals.

Information about the seas in Norway in preparation for the workshop can be found

a ​https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/nordic­seas/​